Little Hero, Big Screen: The Entomology Of 'Ant-Man'
If superheroes are one of the ultimate expressions of individualism, what are we to make of Ant-Man, a Marvel Comics character based on one of the least individual, most collective creatures on the planet?
Ant-Man can shrink to the size of an ant — and, in the movie which opens this weekend, ants are his greatest allies. "The ants are loyal, brave and will be your partners on this job," explains the scientist who invented Ant-Man's supersuit.
It was the job of Jake Morrison, the movie's visual effects supervisor, to make ants, of all creatures, relatable. "We want the ants to be a character in this movie," he says. "In the sense that we want people to feel for them, be rooting for them."
Two years ago, Morrison threw himself into researching ants. He spent a lot of time peering through microscopes and lying on floors to understand how to represent them both accurately, and aesthetically.
"First and foremost, it's hair," he says.
It turns out that ants are covered with hairy spikes. Morrison and his team found a variety of ant from the Saharan desert with beautiful hair — silver and downy. They adapted it for some of the friendly ants in the movie. And the visual effects jiggered the way one kind of ant moves. It's less like an insect, and more like a puppy, Morrison said.
"We give them this springy, bouncy aspect to them," he says. The ants — all of which are CGI — are undeniably cute. "It's really hard not to get attached to them over the course of the project."
But Morrison aimed higher than just adorable. He wanted Ant-Man's ants to be scientifically spot on. The movie highlights a few different real kinds of ants, and their real, super ant powers. For example, bullet ants really do sting their enemies painfully. Crazy ants can short out electrical systems (although probably not on purpose as they do in the movie). And fire ants actually build rafts and bridges with their bodies.
"I thought it was a great movie," says Ana Jesovnik, a graduate student who works at the Ant Lab at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. She attended an early screening with scientist Seán Brady, who chairs the entomology department there.
"I thought it was fantastic. It shows some respect for the actual biology of the ants," Brady agrees. "You see other ant movies and the ants don't even look like ants, and they're not acting like ants. And here, they clearly took the time to figure out what ants actually do, what they look like."
"Ants are the good guys," Jesovnik says approvingly.
"Good girls, though," Brady adds quickly, and they both laugh. This, they agree, is the only thing Ant-Man really got wrong. In real life, most of the ants crawling out in the world are sterile females. They're the farmers, workers and soldiers. Jesovnik says in earlier movies like Antz or A Bug's Life, Hollywood has gendered ants incorrectly.
"It's always boys and girls," she says. "Or boys. And ants really are only girls, mostly."
The scientists have no quibble with Ant-Man, who is, after all, a made-up Marvel Comics character. But male ants have short little lives. They live in the colony, mate with the queen, guard her and die. In the movie, the main ant character is a winged carpenter ant named Antony. He most certainly would be female in reality.
"So it should have been Antoinette really, then," Morrison says, sounding slightly abashed when told about the scientists' reaction to the movie. "It's certainly not a deliberate bit of ant sexism. Absolutely not. It was not planned that way at all. Duly noted."
"We'll get that right on the next one," he adds.
We can't wait. Bride of Ant Man. Ant Man: Fury Road. Maybe even: Ant-Woman.
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Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Let's talk about superheroes. Often they're known for working on their own - Superman, Spiderman, the Green Lantern. It's all about the individual. But what about Ant-Man, the star of a new movie opening this weekend?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")
MICHAEL DOUGLAS: (As Dr. Hank Pym) The world sure seems different from down here, doesn't it, Scott?
GREENE: "Ant-Man," a Marvel Comics character, is about a guy who can shrink to the size of an ant. NPR's Neda Ulaby wondered about a superhero based on one of the least individual, most collective creatures on the planet.
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: "Ant-Man" begins as a burglar stumbles on a suit with superpowers and gets recruited by the scientist who created it.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")
DOUGLAS: (As Dr. Hank Pym) You've learned about the suit, but you've yet to learn about your greatest allies - the ants - loyal, brave and your partners on this job.
ULABY: Ant-Man befriends the armies of ants who swarm to help whenever he's in trouble.
JAKE MORRISON: We want the ants to be a character in the movie in the sense that we want people to feel for them, be rooting for them.
ULABY: Jake Morrison is "Ant-Man's" visual effects supervisor. Two years ago, he threw himself into researching ants - how to make them in the movie both scientifically accurate and relatable.
MORRISON: Well, first and foremost, its hair.
ULABY: Ants are covered with hairy spikes. Morrison and his team found a kind of ant with beautiful hair - Hollywood hair - silver and downy. They adapted it for the friendly ants in the movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")
EVANGELINE LILLY: (As Hope van Dyne) Paratrechina longicornis, commonly known as crazy ants. They're lightning fast and can conduct electricity, which makes them useful to fry out enemy electronics.
PAUL RUDD: (As Scott Lang) Oh, you're not so crazy. You're cute.
ULABY: And the visual effects jiggered with ants move. Less like an insect...
MORRISON: A bit more like, say, a puppy. So we give them this sort of springy, bouncy aspect to them. And it's really hard not to get attached to them over the course of a project.
ULABY: Jake Morrison did not want the ants of "Ant-Man" to be anything like a retro giant ant thriller.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THEM!")
EDMUND GWENN: (As Dr. Harold Medford) Get the antennae. Get the antennae.
ULABY: Instead of the mutant ants of "Them!," "Ant-Man" features different kinds of real ants and their real, almost super, ant powers.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")
LILLY: (As Hope van Dyne) Paraponera clavata.
RUDD: (As Scott Lang) I know. Bullet ants, right? Number one on the Schmidt Pain Index.
ULABY: Bullet ants really do sting their enemies painfully. And crazy ants can short out electrical systems, though probably not on purpose as they do in the movie. And fire ants actually build bridges and rafts with their bodies.
I took two real ant scientists to an early screening of "Ant-Man." Ana Jesovnik and Sean Brady work at the ant lab at the National Museum of Natural History. Their official job titles are myrmecologists, not film critics, but here's their review of "Ant-Man" as scientists.
ANA JESOVNIK: I thought it was a great movie.
SEAN BRADY: I thought it was fantastic. It shows some respect for the actual biology of the ants.
ULABY: Brady and Jesovnik have, out of professional curiosity, checked out earlier depictions of ants on film - "Ant-Man's" antecedents.
BRADY: You see other ant movies and the ants won't even look like ants, and they're not acting like ants. And here they clearly took the time to figure out what ants actually do, what they look like.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")
LILLY: (As Hope van Dyne) Camponotus pennsylvanicus.
DOUGLAS: (Dr. Hank Pym) Alternatively known as a carpenter ant - ideal for ground and air transport.
RUDD: (As Scott Lang) Wait a minute, I know this guy. I'm going to call him Antony (ph).
DOUGLAS: (Dr. Hank Pym) That's good. That's very good because this time you're really going to have to learn how to control him.
ULABY: Ana Jesovnik approves of this movie's ant messaging.
JESOVNIK: Ants are the good guys. I like that.
BRADY: Good girls though.
JESOVNIK: (Laughter).
ULABY: Wait - good girls. The two scientists say this is "Ant-Man's" only flaw. Hollywood, says Jesovnik, always assigns ants the wrong gender.
JESOVNIK: It's always boys and girls or boys, and ants really are only girls, mostly.
ULABY: OK, Ant-Man is a fictional character in the Marvel universe. Jesovnik has no quibbles with his gender. But real ants crawling out in the world are pretty much all female. Male ants have short little lives. They live in the colony, mate with the queen, guard her and die. Sean Brady says females are the farmers, workers, soldiers and flying around like in the movie.
BRADY: They got the gender wrong, but other than that they did a pretty good job, yeah.
ULABY: So Hollywood.
MORRISON: (Laughter) So it should've been Antoinette really then.
ULABY: Jake Morrison, "Ant-Man's" visual effects supervisor, was nice about getting called out.
MORRISON: It's certainly not a deliberate bit of ant sexism. Absolutely not - absolutely not planned that way at all and duly noted.
ULABY: Duly noted.
MORRISON: Well, we'll get that right on the next one.
ULABY: The sequel - "Bride Of Ant-Man," "Ant-Man: Fury Road," maybe even "Ant-Woman." Neda Ulaby, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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